Conduit system for electric railways.



No. 643,742. Patented Feb. 20, I900. I L. DION.

CONDUIT SYSTEM FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

Patented Feb. 20, I900. L. DION.

GONDUIT SYSTEM FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

(Application filed July 2, 1897.)

3 Sheets$heet 2,

(No Model.

No. 643,742. Patented Feb. 20, I900.

L. DION.

EGONDUIT SYSTEM FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

(Application ma July 2, 1597. (No llodel'.) 3 Sheats8heet 3 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEON DION, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CONDUIT SYSTEM FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters latent NO. 643,742, dated February20, 1900.

Application filed July 2, 1897. Serial No. 643,188. (No model- T0 atwhom it may concern:

Beit known that I, LEON DION, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk andState of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Conduit Systems for Electric Railways,of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to conduit systems for electric railways, andmore particularly to a system wherein is employed a conduit located inthe vicinity of and preferably between the rails of the roadway andcontaining a main conductor and an auxiliary movable conductor, thelatter of which is adapted to be lifted up by magnetic attraction intocontact with the conducting top or upper surface of the conduit when acar passes and at all other times to remain outof contact therewith.

The substance and objects of my invention will appear from thesucceeding description and claims, reference being also had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in whichFigure 1 represents a perspective view, with parts broken away, of aportion of an electric roadway constructed in accordance with myinvention, showing a car-truck thereon. Fig. 2 represents a top planview of the conduit with a portion broken away to expose the conductors.Fig.3 represents a median longitudinal vertical sectionof the conduit.Fig. 4 represents a section onihe line 4 4: of Fig. 3, showing also theroadway and the magneto contact-shoe which is attached to the'car. Fig.5 represents a detail side View, showing the method of insulating thesections of the conductor-inclosing conduit. Fig. 6 represents aperspective View of the end of one of said sections. Fig. 7 represents aperspective view of portions of the main conductor and auxiliaryconductor. Fig. 8 represents a similar view to Fig. 7, showing amodification.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all thefigures.

I have illustrated inthe drawings an electrically-equipped roadway inwhich the rails are used as one of the conductors, as in the ordinaryoverhead-trolley system; but, as will presently appear, the constructionis such that two conduits could be made to supply current for the carsinstead of one conduit and the rails.

outer casing is composed of two halvesb I),

connected by stay-bolts b, Fig. 1, and between the conductor-conduit andthe edges of the inwardly-projecting flanges b 12 forming the top of theouter casing, permanent spaces or slots 0 c exist.

The inner conduit rests on chairs d in the outer casing and is composedof insulated sections, each of which consists of a trough e, having legs6' formed on its bottom, by means of which it isclam ped to the chairsby bolts .6 and a sectional cover composed of two plates 6 e the upperone of which is made smooth and flat to form a contact-face for themagneto'shoe 1%. An insulation 01 is placed between the chairs d and thelegs 6.

Each of the sections of the inner conduit is butt-jointed to itsneighbors by bolts a, Fig. 5, passing through lateral flanges 6 formedon the ends of the sections, and between each section is placedinsulation 6 The insulation is extended, as shown in Fig. 3, a shortdistance longitudinally on each side between the plate 6 e of theconduit-cover. The upper plate of said cover is formed withlongitudinally-extending ribs e which rest on the lower plate, and thewhole structure of the two cover-plates is designed with a View towithstanding the heavy blows and rough usage of street traffic.

Inside the inner conduit and suitably insulated from the bottom andsides thereof are the main conductor f and the auxiliary conductor g g,composed of independent flexible sections lying on top of the mainconductor. These sections of the auxiliary conductor consist of flexiblestrips of magnetic conducting material, preferably soft iron, and haveno direct connection of any kind with each other. The ends of eachsection 9 are provided with lugs g g, which enter slotsf in the mainconductor f and serve to maintain the auxiliary conductor in positionthereon. In Fig. 7 the ends of the sections 9 are shown as lapping pasteach other, while in Fig. 8 they approach but do not meet.

The lugs g are of such length that they always remain within the slotsf, even when the ends of the auxiliarycond uctors gg, which carry saidlugs, are raised into contact with the conduitcover. Vhile the sides ofsaid lugs may, owing to their being always in contact with the sides ofthe slots f, serve to preserve a complete circuit even if both ends of asection 9 are simultaneously raised, said lugs also, by reason of theslots f being slightly longer than the width of the lugs from theirfront to rear edges, permit of a slight degree of longitudinal movementin each section, which longitudinal movement is limited by the length ofthe slot relatively to the lug. Therefore proper contact of the sectionsof auxiliary conductor with the main conductor is always assured, Whilesaid sections are still permitted to have the slight longitudinalmovement in either direction due to the alternate lifting of the ends ofthe sections or the gradual lifting and lowering of portions of eachsection as the car moves thereover, as more fully hereinafter described.

In shape the main conductorfis preferably rectangular, and the materialof which it is composed should be one of suitable conductivity, such ascopper. The top plates e e of the conduit are composed of suitable non-magnetic conductive material, such as manganese steel, and, ifdesired, the main portion e of said conduit may be composed of the samematerial.

Current is taken from the top of the inner conduit by the contact-shoem, which contains an electromagnet and the lower face of whichconstitutes both the pole-piece of the magnet and the collector fortaking the current. hen the magnet is energized, it attracts theauxiliary conductor g and raises it into contact with the under side ofthe plate 6 thereby supplying current to the motor through the shoe mand the car-wheels. Other suitable means may be used instead of the shoem for collecting the current. As the car is propelled the auxiliaryconductor is raised at successive points, the length and flexibility ofthe sections 1 being such'that some portion of a section is always incontact with the main conductor f, while another portion is in contactwith the conduit-cover. The sections of the conduit are successivelyenergized by the passage of the car and are made of such length that thelive section or sections are always underneath the car, and danger ofshock to animals or men is prevented. The slotsf in the main conductor,in which are located the lugs or ears g on the ends of the sections 9 ofthe auxiliary conductor, are made sufiiciently long to allow a smalldegree of longitudinal movement to said sections.

As above stated, the sections 9 are preferably of such length andflexibility that some portion of a section is always in contact with themain conductor-f, while another portion is in contact with theconduit-cover. This results in a tendency to a crawling action of eachsection; but this action, while permitted to a slight degree by theconstruction above described of the lugs g and f, is limited so that itcannot extend throughout the line, each section if it is given anadvancing movement being crowded back to its proper position as itsfarther end is dropped when the car leaves it, owing to the downwardmovement of the lug g in contact with the farther end of the slotf.

I do not confine myself to the details of construction above set forth,when such construction may be varied without departing from the spiritof my invention.

I claim 1. In an electric-railway system, a closed conduit having acover or top capable of electrical conductivity, a main conductorinclosed therein, and an auxiliary conductor superimposed on said mainconductor and composed of independent disconnected sections, each ofsaid sections being free to rise and fall and having a limited freedomto move longitudinally.

2. In an electric-railway system, the combination with the mainelectrical conductor, of an auxiliary electrical conductor composed of aseries of independent flexible sections formed of metal susceptible tomagnetic attraction, each of said sections being free to rise and falland having a limited freedom to move longitudinally for the purpose setforth.

3. In an electric-railway system, a continuous main electricalconductor, and an auxiliary electrical conductor composed of a series ofindependent flexible sections formed of metal susceptible to magneticattraction, each of said sections being free to rise and fall and havinga limited freedom to move longitudinally in combination with a conduithaving its top surface composed of a series of sections or platesinsulated from each other, and formed of metal not susceptible tomagnetic attraction, for the purpose set forth.

4. In an electric-railway system, a conduit having a cover or top formedof manganese steel, a conductor composed of independent sections formedof metal susceptible to magnetic attraction, each of said sections beingfree to rise and fall and having a limited freedom to movelongitudinally in combination with a magnet carried by the car, andmeans for electrically connecting said sections.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, this 26th day of June, A. D.1897.

LEON DION.

Witnesses:

A. D. HARRISON, C. F. BROWN.

ICC

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